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New Generation Photography Award winners showcase their art on campus

This free, outdoor photography exhibition at the RIC features award-winning work by Canadians 35 and under
By: Irina Vukosavic
July 16, 2021
Photo of woman holding ball.

Dainesha Nugent-Palache, Angaer, 2016, inkjet print. The Wedge Collection, private collections. © Dainesha Nugent-Palache. 

Nugent-Palache, one of the three winners of the New Generation Photography Award in 2021, will have her work featured outside the Ryerson Image Centre.

The Ryerson Image Centre started displaying a free outdoor exhibition at the end of June that features photography by the New Generation Photography Award 2020 and 2021 winners (external link)  which include Katherine Takpannie, Curtiss Randolph, Noah Friebel, Chris Donovan, Dainesha Nugent-Palache and Dustin Brons. 

The exhibition will be on view until November 14 as part of the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography festival. The 2021 and 2020 winners each received a cash prize of $10,000 and will be featured in the Toronto exhibition on Ryerson’s campus and at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. 

Photo of building with Ryerson University logo and photo of woman in pink smoke.

Installation view, Katherine Takpannie, Our Women and Girls are Sacred, 2016, at Ryerson University, Toronto, 2021. © Katherine Takpannie. Photo: Riley Snelling.

Takpannie is an Ottawa-based Inuk artist whose photographs set performative and political gestures against both natural and built environments, including intimate portraits of women.

Chris Donovan’s photo of a boy in a window displayed on campus.

Installation view, Chris Donovan, Boy in Window, 2017, at Ryerson University, Toronto, 2021. © Chris Donovan. Photo: Riley Snelling.

Donovan’s work focuses on the intersection of community and industry. The visual narratives he creates reflect upon humanity, often within the contexts of wealth inequality and residential landscapes.

Photo of a bed in a grey room surrounded by walls on either side.

Noah Friebel, Material for a Play, (detail), 20201. Courtesy of the artist. © Noah Friebel.

Vancouver/Berlin based Noah Friebel focuses on the fabricated aspect of the photograph, using elements of sculpture and installation to examine our relationship to images, each other, and the narrowing space in between.

Text “Demand Your Air Rights” in white font superimposed on cloud themed background.

Dustin Brons, Demand/Demands, 2019, offset printed poster. Collection of the artist. © Dustin Brons.

Brons is an artist from Vancouver who works with the recontextualization of existing materials across photographs, videos and text.

Randolph’s photo of a man in a white shirt pointing at another man in a black sweater as displayed on campus.

Installation view, Curtiss Randolph, I’m Not Gary (After Douglas), 2018, at Ryerson University, Toronto, 2021. © Curtiss Randolph. Photo: Riley Snelling

Randolph constructs scenes as either tableau or staged documentary narratives and mixes realism, surrealism and gonzo journalism.

“We’re excited to host this unique exhibition honouring emerging talents,” says Paul Roth, director of the Ryerson Image Centre (RIC) and chair of Ryerson University’s Public Art Committee. “It’s a great privilege for the RIC to partner with the National Gallery of Canada and our long-time supporters at Scotiabank in their collaborative effort to elevate the careers of young Canadian photographers.”

The exhibition is organized by the National Gallery of Canada in partnership with Scotiabank, the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival and Ryerson University.

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